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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

UN Charity Event Controversy

When it comes to real Hip Hop, the perception of unenlightened people shifts towards demoralizing hip hop artists and their potential. People tend to estimate the value of their music as "not too popular" ; therefore discriminating them from other more'commercial' artists and bands.This relentless tag has suffocated talented and - actually very popular in the scene - artists such as Arabian Knightz, who were recently confronted with quite the predicament. Sponsored by the UN, an event was planned to be held in honor of "National Volunteer Day" and many local artists were eager to participate and collaborate in such a public-spirited occasion. As modesty is key in any artist, Egyptian hip hop crew Arabian Knightz did not hesitate to express their involvement. When negotiations were made concerning compensations, An Egyptian UN representative explained that there won't be any!!But, what seemed as a collective decision was actually biased. The other collaborating artists and bands WILL be collecting some sort of recompense. What was made clear to them - sadly - was that Arabian Knightz music was not popular enough to be rewarded and that performing on stage should be enough.As a result , Arabian Knighz decided to pull out from the event. Here's what Sphinx (One of the members of AK) had to say:"The sad part is that we get love outside of this country... touring with huge names and getting showed support and appreciation for the art and hard work we've done... yet locally even after all we have been able to do with HIP-HOP, it get treated like a lower form of art or not even art at all... as if we should be happy just to be able to perform...Well we wont help in cheapening the art form for anybody with all due respect... "Arabian Knightz are considered one of the most established Hip Hop groups in Arabia as they have been very active and are always a big advocate of authentic hip-hop. I stand in solidarity with my brothers and I wish them all the best.